The speaker addresses a beloved with admiration and thanks. From the opening lines, the beloved’s constancy and sweetness encourage the speaker to feel hopeful, as if their affection can “refurbish pavilions of hope” and spread sky like fabric. Quietly, the speaker surveys a shared life through the names of harbors—San Francisco, Stockholm, Mobile, Tacoma, Barcelona—suggesting a long, well-traveled relationship in which safe places seemed to favor them. Love itself is imagined as a province inherited from an oligarchy of cherubs, a playful yet lofty image. There is tenderness in the speaker’s self-doubt: the speaker wishes to be wiser, more patient, more extraordinary, matching the beloved’s imagined worth. The final image is one of pure benediction, as the speaker asks for blessings to arrive like choral voices, wizard’s secrets, and light from behind blue mountains. The mood is warm, expansive, and reverent without being solemn, mixing intimate devotion with a touch of wonder.
The Cherubs, The Harbors — Summary
Your constancy inspires me to refurbish pavilions of hope. Your sweetness unfurls yards of woven sky
that luxurious tailors applaud. Ah, my dear, what a long way we’ve traveled together. Harbors have
looked out for our best interests, San Francisco, Stockholm, Mobile, Tacoma, Barcelona. Love
is a province we inherited from an oligarchy of cherubs. I wish I were as wise
as you deserve, as patient as the moon, as extraordinary as you. I desire all blessings
to come your way like voices from a choir, secrets from a wizard, sung light from behind blue mountains.